Gatekeeper Systems Inc., a video and data solutions provider for public transportation and smart cities, has launched Gatekeeper Mobile Wi-Fi System, a new enhanced distant learning initiative that enables 4G and 5G broadband access for students. The Company has also received a purchase order of approximately C$560,000 from a school district to equip their fleet of school buses with the Mobile Wi-Fi System. The purchase order also includes a 12-month services contract that is renewable for up to five years.
The Mobile Wi-Fi System provides 4G or 5G internet connectivity for students and authorized users while the bus is transporting students or while the bus is parked in a neighborhood for the purpose of providing internet access to students who do not have suitable connectivity at home. Data is routed through the school’s content filters and network infrastructure to ensure that students are provided with a safe internet environment and that firewall-protected school content is accessible.
The Edmonton International Airport (EIA) is building its business in a way that positions it at the heart of supporting and developing innovation in the region, says the woman in charge of making those big ideas happen.
“We’re really a small city. We have real estate, commercial developments, waterways, (and) we create our own energy. We also have our big aviation and cargo sectors, the core purpose of our airport,” Tara Mulrooney, vice-president of technology and innovation, told Taproot Edmonton’s innovation podcast, Bloom.
Read more: CA: Alberta: ‘A small city’: Building a hub for innovation at the Edmonton airport
The increased pace of digital transformation during the pandemic will help cities recover and thrive in the future, said two mayors from the Toronto area speaking at ITWC’s Technicity GTA conference.
“The technical innovation that’s happened is a tool to help us move forward,” said Allan Thompson, mayor of Caledon. “It’s basically just like what the automobile has done, what the aircraft has done in the last century. I think this innovation is the new wave of the industrial revolution.”
Read more: CA: Digital acceleration will boost local economic recovery, say GTA mayors
According to the International Energy Agency's latest report on smart cities, new technologies and increased connectivity are opening massive opportunities for city-level authorities to develop efficient, sustainable energy solutions that enable municipalities to accelerate their transition towards a clean, low-carbon future. Although cities generate more than 80% of the global GDP, they consume over two-thirds of the world's energy and account for more than 70% of global CO2 emissions, which will require leveraging digital solutions to drive a sustainable energy transition and reach net zero by 2050.
However, as a recent article from the Harvard Business School illustrates, advancing the concept of smart cities can be challenging and expensive. But, through well-designed public-private partnerships (PPPs), a Deloitte report highlighted that private-sector incentives could be aligned with economic growth and net-zero goals set by local municipalities to unlock the value of technology and bring a critical mass of players together to spur sustainable economic development.
Read more: Canada’s Area X.O Initiative Looks To Empower Cities’ Transition To A Net-Zero Future
New research shows that police forces across Canada are building extensive digital surveillance hubs without any public engagement. Smart city projects use very similar technologies with the same dangers, yet here residents and municipalities are increasingly implementing Open Smart City principles to avoid potential harms and strengthen public oversight. The police should not be exempt from democratic accountability and the same principles can be applied to them to rebuild it.
People around the world are recognizing the potential of emerging “smart” technologies—those technologies that use machine learning, artificial intelligence and large-scale data analysis—to provide more efficient and effective services. However, there is also significant potential for them to cause harm around privacy, discrimination, transparency, and the corporate capture of what are publicly and democratically controlled tools of government.
Read more: Canada’s smart tech future: Open cities or opaque surveillance?